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Thousands line up for Foxconn jobs in Zhengzhou

The Chinese city of Zhengzhou was flooded with thousands of applicants on Monday who gathered outside a labor agency to apply for iPhone plant jobs as electronics giant Foxconn begins to ramp up its huge hiring efforts. The crowd continued to grow throughout the day despite recent controversy over a New York Times report highlighting difficult working conditions at Foxxconn.

Lines dominated by mostly male workers stretched more than 200 meters along the road, as Foxconn expects to recruit an additional 100,000 employees to work at their Science Park plant in Zhengzhou. The workforce expansion is aimed at doubling daily production of iPhones to 400,000 per day — up from the current 200,000 mark.

The $1.1 billion expansion — expected to bring $20 billion in sales revenue in 2012, would position the factory as the largest smartphone production facility in the world.

Foxconn advertised that basic salaries for new hires would include a food and housing allowance which attracted thousands of young job seekers including many experienced workers previously employed by the company in southern China’s Shenzhen province, according to a report byM.I.C. Gadget. As night began to fall, applicants could still be seen waiting to apply for jobs.

"The long lines at the labor agency may have surprised some, considering the harsh working conditions at Foxconn’s factories," said M.I.C. Gadget blogger Chris Chang.

"No matter how poor the working conditions are, we can still see lots of Chinese willing to work at the hell factory to assemble the tech gadgets we’re using today. God bless them." Chang added.

It's believed that increased production efforts are being initiated to support production for the highly anticipated iPhone 5 expected to launch later this year.